Alex Trebek is already back taping new 'Jeopardy!' episodes after cancer diagnosis

The native of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, has been host of the syndicated quiz show since 1984

LOS ANGELES (KMOX/AP) - Alex Trebek is back on set, taping new episodes of "Jeopardy!," less than a week after revealing he has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Sony Pictures says the show tapes on Tuesday's and Wednesday's and Trebek hasn't missed a single day of work on the syndicated quiz show, according to a spokesperson for the show.

Trebek announced his diagnosis after last Wednesday's taping, even adding a little humor about how he has no option but to continue taping.

"Becasue of the terms of my contract I have to host Jeopardy" for three more years," Trebek said.

Video of A Message From Alex Trebek | JEOPARDY!

Although Trebek had publicly toyed with the idea of retiring, he instead renewed his deal in 2018 with Sony Pictures Television for three more years, through the 2021-22 season.

The native of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, has been host of the syndicated quiz show since 1984. He and his wife, Jean Currivan, have two children.

Ken Jennings, a longtime “Jeopardy!” player who took part in the show’s “All-Star Games” that ended Tuesday, posted a tweet in which he compared Trebek to the late TV journalist Walter Cronkite.

“I’ve said this before but Alex Trebek is in a way the last Cronkite: authoritative, reassuring TV voice you hear every night, almost to the point of ritual,” Jennings wrote.

Trebek has gone online before to get out word about his health. In January 2018, he posted a video announcing he’d undergone surgery for blood clots on the brain that followed a fall he’d taken. The show was on hiatus during his recovery.